Eugene Hinutan/UM Intern
THE BACOLOD City Council passed a resolution thanking Davao City for donating a Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machine and 20 sampling kits to the local government recently.
The resolution was authored by Bacolod City Councilor Cindy Rojas, chairperson of the committee on health, who extended the city’s heartfelt appreciation for the kindness and generosity of Davaoeños.
She said the donation will help Bacolod strengthen its capacity to test residents to detect possible infection and prevent the local transmission of the COVID-19. She added that the present incubation period of the deadly virus ranges from 1 to 12.5 days according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
“These estimates can change as new information is being shared with the Department of Health (DOH). Based on what we know about other coronavirus diseases such as Mers and Sars, their incubation period reaches up to 14 days. With COVID-19, WHO recommends to monitor contacts of confirmed cases for 14 days,” as she quoted.
The PT-PCR machine arrived at Bocolod-Silay Airport on May 4 and it was received by local officials, headed by Mayor Evelio Leornadia, together with Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, City Administrator Em Ang, and councilors Rojas and Renecito Novero.
The early detection of the virus through RT-PCR machine is essential to ensure that the patient will receive medical treatment as early as possible, Rojas said.
Bacolod City had a total of 7,881 cases with 219 deaths as of May 6. However, 6,682 patients have already recovered, so there were ony 980 were active cases.
